Double-pane windows



Jan. 24, 1967 H. WOELK I DOUBLE-PANE WINDOWS Filed May 18, 1964 VW /Z Jnven for 4 Wm ma W United States Patent 3,299,591 DOUBLE-PANE WINDOWS Hubert Woelk, Porz-Zundorf, Germany, asslgnor to Spiegetglaswerke Germania Aktiengesellschaft, Porz- Urbach, Germany Filed May 18, 1964, Ser. No. 368,108 Claims priority, application Germany, May 20, 1963,

S 85,288 3 Claims. (Cl. 52-203) Most existing windows are in the form of a single glass pane which is mounted in a sash frame and which is retained in the frame by special stepsa strip of putty or cement or the like, as a rule, in the case of timber sash frames, and resilient metal capping or the like in the case of metal sash frames. Often, however, it is required to have windows having double-pane insulation. To meet this requirement, it has previously been necessary to take out the single pane of the existing window and replace it by an insulating double-pane unit and also to replace the single-pane sash frame by a new sash frame for the double-pane glass unit.

It is an object of the invention to obviate this expensive replacement of the complete single-pane window by a double-pane window and to considerably reduce the cost of converting an existing single-pane window into an insulating double-pane window.

To this end, according to the invention the single-pane window, with its device (sealing strip, resilient capping or the like) for retaining the pane in the same frame mounted horizontally and below the pane, so receives, on top of the pane of the window thus mounted, a second smaller prefabricated glass pane having a cast-on edge strip of a sealant (epoxy resin or the like) which sticks to glass such that the two panes and the edge strip co-operate to bound an insulating space. Thereafter the continuous trough bounded by, on the one hand, the edge strip and the smaller pane which bears the same and, on the other hand, the sash frame is filled up with the same sealant (epoxy resin or the like). Conveniently, to allow for the shrinkage associated with the curing of the sealant used to fill the trough, those surfaces of the sash frame which contact the sealant are pretreated with an agent which inhibits the resin sticking to the frame; for instance, such surfaces can have an application of a mould release agent or the like known per se or can be covered with an adhesive film which can unstick from the sash frame as the sealant shrinks.

An embodiment of the process according to the invention is shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a conventional window wherein a, for instance, timber sash frame 1 is fitted with a single-glass pane 2, the same being retained in the frame 1 by a sealing strip 3. The pane 2 is mounted with the strip 3 facing horizontally downwards.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the top of the pane 2 thus mounted so receives a smaller prefabricated glass pane 4 on to which a continuous edge strip 5 of epoxy resin has been poured so that the panes 2, 4 and the strip 5 co-operate to bound an insulating space 6. The epoxy resin edge strip 5 sticks tightly in air-tight fashion to the pane 4. The dimensions of the pane 4 are such that some of the pane 2 remains exposed between, on the one hand, the outside edges of the pane 4 and the edge strip 5 and, on the other hand, the nearby part of the frame 1; in other words, a trough 7 is left whose base is the pane 2.

3,299,591 Patented Jan. 24, 1967 Referring now to FIG. 3, the trough 7 is then filled up with liquid epoxy resin which, once it has cured, sticks tightly and in air-tight fashion to the side edges of the pane 4, to the outside surface of the edge strip 5, and to the trough base surface formed by the pane 2. To ensure that the epoxy resin used to fill up the trough 7 does not stick to the sash frame 1 (if it did, the shrinkage associated with the curing of the epoxy resin might cause difiiculties), it is advisable for the sash frame surfaces which contact the epoxy resin either to be pretreated with a release agent or to have stuck to them an adhesive strip which can unstick from the frame as the resin shrinks.

I claim:

1. A casement window including a first glass pane, a second glass pane having a first sealant web secured to surface portions adjacent the outer edges thereof, said second glass pane mounted in overlying relation to said first glass pane and spaced from said first glass pane a distance determined by the depth of said first sealant web, the outer edges of said second glass pane being positioned inwardly of the outer edges of the first glass pane, a second sealant web being secured to the outer surface of said first sealant web and the adjacent surface of said first glass pane, whereby said first and second panes are secured in fixed relative relation; wherein said first glass pane is retained at its outer edges Within a frame and said second sealant web fills the trough defined by the inner surface of said frame, the outer edge of the second glass pane, the outer surface of said first sealant web, and the adjacent surface portion of said first glass pane; 'and wherein adjacent surfaces of said second sealant web and said frame are of a type which are non-adhering to each other such that said second sealant web is unsecured to said frame.

2. A casement window including a first glass pane, a second glass pane having a first sealant web secured to surface portions adjacent the outer edges thereof, said second glass pane mounted in overlying relation to said first glass pane and spaced from said first glass pane a distance determined by the depth of said first sealant web, the outer edges of said second glass pane being positioned inwardly of the outer edges of said first glass pane, a second sealant web being secured to the outer surface of said first sealant web and the adjacent surface of said first glass pane, whereby said first and second panes are secured in fixed relative relation, and wherein said first and second sealant webs are epoxy resins.

3. A method of manufacturing a window including the steps of providing a first glass pane, securing a first sealant web to the outer surface of a second glass pane adjacent the edge thereof, placing said second glass pane in spaced overlying relation to said first glass pane, said panes being spaced an amount equal to the depth of said first sealant web, and applying a second sealant web to said first glass pane and first sealant web to secure said first and second panes in fixed relation; including the step of providing a frame secured to the outer peripheral edges of said first glass pane; wherein said second sealant web is applied to adhere to the outer peripheral edge of said second glass pane and fills the trough defined by said frame, said first glass pane, said first sealant web and said second glass pane edge; including the step of treating the inner surface of said frame with a release agent to prevent said second sealant web from adhering to said frame.

(References on following page) References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Kile 52-203 Watkins 52208 X Roos 52202 Gaiser 156289 X Walker et al 156289 X Partsch 52616 X 4 FOREIGN PATENTS 8/1962 Canada. 4/1959 Germany.

W. E. HEATON, A. I. BREIER, Assistant Examiners. 

2. A CASEMENT WINDOW INCLUDING A FIRST GLASS PANE, A SECOND GLASS PANE HAVING A FIRST SEALANT WEB SECURED TO SURFACE PORTIONS ADJACENT THE OUTER EDGES THEREOF, SAID SECOND GLASS PANE MOUNTED IN OVERLYING RELATION TO SAID FIRST GLASS PANE AND SPACED FROM SAID FIRST GLASS PANE A DISTANCE DETERMINED BY THE DEPTH OF SAID FIRST SEALANT WEB, THE OUTER EDGES OF SAID SECOND GLASS PANE BEING POSITIONED INWARDLY OF THE OUTER EDGES OF SAID FIRST GLASS PANE, A SECOND SEALANT WEB BEING SECURED TO THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID FIRST SEALANT WEB AND THE ADJACENT SURFACE OF SAID FIRST GLASS PANE, WHEREBY SAID FIRST AND SECOND PANES ARE SECURED IN FIXED RELATIVE RELATION, AND WHEREIN SAID FIRST AND SECOND SEALANT WEBS ARE EPOXY RESINS. 